Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal on Friday entered semi-finals of the World Super Series Masters Final in Kuala Lumpur.
The Indian, ranked world No. 10, beat sixth-seed and world No. 11 Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia 21-10, 17-21, 21-16 in the third match of the tournament and became the first Indian women to book her place in the last four in the elite tournament.
Saina was ecstatic following her progress into the semi-finals but said she did not expect to win both her quarter-final league matches.
"It was a very good match. I am very satisfied and happy with my performance. To be honest I didn't expect to win two matches on a single day. Both were very tough and I am happy that I made it to the semi-finals," the teenager was quoted as saying by PTI.
Speaking about her gruelling encounter with Wong, the Hyderabad girl, who came close to missing the tournament following a goof-up at the regional passport office, said it was her strong smashes which came good in the end.
"It was a long match. I rallied well and my smashes were coming really good. I took the lead in the first game. In the second, she was on the better side and there was a drift. So I was not able to counter going out a bit," Saina said.
"I was not at all scared today. I knew I had nothing to lose so I just gave my 100 per cent. I knew I can do it. I just kept my cool and didn't let tension get the better off me because whenever I become tense, I give away points," she said.
She faces Chen Wang of Hong Kong in the semi-final on Saturday.
"Tomorrow is again a very tough match. Wang is a very attacking player and has some good half smashes and pushes. Hope I can give her a tough competition," said Saina.
Coach Pullela Gopichand felt Saina's progress should augur well for Indian badminton.
"It's a great victory. I am very happy with her performance. It will surely do a whole lot of good to Indian badminton. Finally India has come at the world stage," said the former All England champion.
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Earlier in the day the Saina thumped fourth-seed Hongyan Pi of France in straight games to keep her hopes of making the semi-finals alive.
She defeated the French player, ranked three notches higher than her, 21-18, 21-13 in a 34-minute contest.
The 18-year-old shuttler rallied well to leave her opponent huffing and puffing all over the court and indulged in some sharp smashes to gallop her way to sealing the first set 21-18.
In the next game, Hongyan displayed some powerful strokes and matched Saina's smashes well but the Indian ace was not in a mood to give an inch. She played close to the nets and raced away with the game 21-13.
Saina had lost her first match of the World Super Series Masters Final, against Danish Tine Rasmussen, in straight-games on Thursday.
She went down 18-21, 14-21 to world No. 2 Rasmussen in a match that lasted for just 27 minutes.
(With inputs from PTI)
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